Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a well-known and valuable method of first aid used to resuscitate people who have suffered from cardiac arrest. CPR requires repetitive chest compressions to squeeze the heart and the thoracic cavity to pump blood through the body. Artificial respiration, such as mouth-to-mouth breathing or a bag mask apparatus, is used to supply air to the lungs. When a first aid provider performs manual chest compression effectively, blood flow in the body is about 25% to 30% of normal blood flow. However, even experienced paramedics cannot maintain adequate chest compressions for more than a few minutes. Hightower, et al., Decay In Quality Of Chest Compressions Over Time, 26 Ann. Emerg. Med. 300 (September 1995). Thus, CPR is not often successful at sustaining or reviving the patient. Nevertheless, if chest compressions could be adequately maintained, then cardiac arrest victims could be sustained for extended periods of time. Occasional reports of extended CPR efforts (45 to 90 minutes) have been reported, with the victims eventually being saved by coronary bypass surgery. See Tovar, et al., Successful Myocardial Revascularization and Neurologic Recovery, 22 Texas Heart J. 271 (1995).
In efforts to provide better blood flow and increase the effectiveness of bystander resuscitation efforts, various mechanical devices have been proposed for performing CPR. In one variation of such devices, a belt is placed around the patient's chest and an automatic chest compression device tightens the belt to effect chest compressions. Our own patents, Mollenauer et al., Resuscitation device having a motor driven belt to constrict/compress the chest, U.S. Pat. No. 6,142,962 (Nov. 7, 2000); Bystrom et al., Resuscitation and alert system, U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,056 (Jul. 18, 2000); Sherman et al., Modular CPR assist device, U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,106 (May 23, 2000); and Sherman et al., Modular CPR assist device, U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,745 (Jun. 4, 2002); and our application Ser. No. 09/866,377 filed on May 25, 2001, our application Ser. No. 10/192,771, filed Jul. 10, 2002 and our application Ser. No. 12/726,262, filed Mar. 17, 2010 show chest compression devices that compress a patient's chest with a belt. Each of these patents or applications is hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Since seconds count during an emergency, any CPR device should be easy to use and facilitate rapid deployment of the device on the patient. Our own devices are easy to deploy quickly and may significantly increase the patient's chances of survival.
One important aspect of such devices is the need for small, powerful yet reliable power supply to power the device. It is not uncommon for CPR to be administered for at least thirty minutes. Thus, the power supply must be capable of delivering sufficient energy to the motor driving the compression device for at least that length of time. Moreover, the power supply must be relatively light weight, so as to enhance portability of the chest compression device, yet it must deliver its power for an extended period of time without significant voltage or current drop off to ensure consistency of compression throughout the treatment period.
Given their automated nature, devices such as the mechanical compression device described above, typically include computer processors to control the operation of the device, often in accordance with software commands stored in a memory. Typically, various parameters are used by the software commands to control the device in certain ways depending on the particular scenario in which the equipment is being used. For example, the strength of the chest compressions may be controlled differently depending on the size or age of the person being treated. Moreover, the software used to program the processor to carry out the operation of the device may be upgraded periodically to improve operation of the equipment. A further need is to collect and/or distribute data generated during usage of the battery and/or equipment to provide for analysis of operation of the battery or equipment.
The wide dispersal of such equipment increases the difficulty in rapidly disseminating updated operating parameters and/or software to the equipment, and keeping track of which version of parameters and/or software is present on each piece of equipment. A further need is to collect and/or distribute data generated during usage of the battery and/or equipment to provide for analysis of operation of the battery or equipment.
Moreover, new types of batteries are being developed to power equipment such as is described above. For example, lithium ion batteries are replacing older types of rechargeable batteries because they can provide high power for longer period of times. Each new battery type may require different programming commands to be communicated to a management system of the battery or charger to monitor and control the operation and charging of the battery. Software designed to assist in managing the charging and discharging of the new battery types operates on processors associated with the battery to monitor the state of charge of the battery, to maintain a history of the use and recharging of the battery, among other functions.
What has been needed, and heretofore unavailable, is a low cost, reliable system and method for distributing data, operating parameters and/or software updates to widely distributed equipment in a manner which ensures that each piece of equipment has the updated data, operating parameters and/or software within a reasonable period of time without requiring attention to be given to each piece of equipment. The present invention satisfies these and other needs.